The First Strike
by Sahadow06
Summary: Taking place after the events of Kingdom Hearts 2, Sora and Riku prepares to embark on their next adventure and to take the Mark of Mastery under Master Yen Sid. However, all isn't well and things are progressing alot faster than anyone anticipated.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello one and all! This would be my first attempt at writting a fanfic for Kingdom Hearts! I hope you enjoy!**

**I'm trying a few different writing techniques for this fanfiction. Instead of writing chapter after chapter like I used to. Instead, I have wrote 5 chapters and will attempt to stay ahead by 3-5 chapters. If I ever fall short of that, then I will take a small break to catch up. Just so everyone knows**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KH or it's predescers and/or spinoffs.**

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Chapter 1: Prologue

Sun; high in the sky. Skies; blue as the water below. Everything was in order at the usual hang out spot; an island off the coast of a small town. Destiny Island was a fairly large, uninhabited strip of land that was occupied by lush greenary and tries that produced the rare Paopu Fruit. The only people who used the island now-a-days were three teenagers, and the heroes of our story.

The first child was named Sora. Age 15. At such a young age he has visted and saved worlds from total destruction. This spikey haired boy was holder to the awesome power of the Keyblade, Kingdom Key. His attire at the moment consisted of a white button-up short sleeve shirt with a blue tie hanging loosely around his neck. Blue pants and black shoes complete his outfit.

The second child, Riku, was 17 years old. His story is vastly different from Sora's. Instead of going to other worlds and protecting them, he was aiding the forces of darkness, albeit for a noble cause at first. He soon became jealous of his younger friend and sought more power, falling deeper into the darkness. But with some assitance, he was able to break free from the curse and return to the island. His out wasn't so much different from Sora's, but his tall, athletic physique coupled with long silver hair that almost covered his eyes made the two boys look completely different.

And the last child, a woman, was Kairi. She was 15 and was the most normal of the three. Her adventuring experience came from mostly kidnappings and other ill events, but she was always saved in the nick of time by her best friends. Her outfit was very similar to the boys, but was a tank top button-up shirt, a blue skirt that stopped above her knees, black knee high socks and black shoes. Her red hair, blue eyes, and slight height disadvantage made her stand out between the two boys.

Our story picks up with our heroes and heroine leaving the school yard and heading to the island. Sora and Riku had to stay back for alittle longer than expected. Partly to finish their make-up work (that Kairi wasn't able to forge) and mostly because of the food fight that Sora started by dumping pudding into Riku's hair. Why did he do it?

"For the lols, ofcourse!" Was his response to Kairi.

* * *

Leaving the school yard always felt good. It felt as if you were leaving a prison from a long sentence of 6 hours. In the case of Sora and Riku, who didnt leave until they served their sentence of 2 hour detention, it felt as if they were seeing the sun light for the first time.

Sora shielded his eyes with a hand and squinted his eyes to help adjust the the brightness. His friend Riku didn't seem to have a problem with the light.

"Has the sun always been that bright?" Sora moved his hand away from his face and continued walking down the pathway.

"No, they just changed the light." The sarcastic comment came from Riku, who found pleasure in mocking his friends from time to time.

"You know, no one appreciates a smart ass Riku." Sora nudged Riku with his elbow.

"I appreciate them." Was his reply. "Besides, your eyes are just really sensitive."

"No, your eyes are just covered by hair."

"And who's fault is that?"

"Yours for not cutting it! Im surprise no one said anything to you today." Sora placed his hands behind his head. "I come back I get a, 'Oh welcome back Sora.' But as soon as you step into the room, everyone starts to fall head over heels for you."

Riku feigned ignorance the best he could. "Really? I didn't notice." He grinned. "It's probably the bodywash I used." He let out a short chuckle.

"Yeah yeah." Sora couldn't help but smile alittle. Times like these were always nice. It beat putting his life on the line on a daily basis. And although his welcoming was short lived he enjoyed seeing all of his classmates again.

"So have you decided what you're going to do?" Riku broke the momentary silence.

"Hm?"

"About the note? The King's Letter?"

"Oh yeah! The letter about the Mark of Mastery." Sora's voice began to drop towards the end. He had never heard about the Mark of Mastery before. Then again he never really found any experts on the Keyblade. The wisest person he knew about the matter was King Mickey and he never brought it up before. "Isn't it obvious? I have to do it."

"I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about Kairi." Riku's voice got alittle more stern. "Odds are she won't be able to tag along with us."

"I don't know Riku." Sora looked up. "She has gotten better with her Keyblade. She even knows Strike Raid now."

"Strike wha?"

"Strike Raid!" Sora stopped and lifted a fist into the air triumphantly. "It's when you throw your keyblade and summon it back to you in rapid session! It's really powerful and helps with ranged attacks."

"...Why not just shoot the beam of light from the end of you Keyblade if you need a ranged attack?" Riku suggested.

Sora gave Riku a puzzeled look and tilted his head to bit. "Because I don't know what to call it."

The silver hair man sighed and continued walking. "I don't think I'll ever completely understand you Sora."

"Hehehe." Sora grined and ran after his pal.

"So how's her magic?" Riku tried to get off of the giving a simple act a name.

"Kairi doesn't have any aptitude for magic. I tried to tech her, but it never seems to work."

"What do you tell her?"

"Point your keyblade and shout 'FIRE'!"

"...You serious with that?"

"Yeah. Works for me." Sora looked down at his watch. "We're going to be late! C'mon Riku!" Sora broke out into an all out sprint up the hill, leaving a dumbfounded Riku at the bottom.

_'Who should I be more concerned for? Kairi for having Sora as a teacher? Or Sora's mentality?'_ Riku released a slight chuckle and sprinted after his best friend.

On the island, Kairi waited at the dock for her two best friends. They were running alittle late, even for having detention. Her legs dangled over the wooden planks and her toes dipped into the water. Next to her was her very own Keyblade, Destiny's Place. Her and Sora had agreed to go over some combat basics before he departed for Disney Castle with Riku. It was odd though; Even though it was Riku's suggestion to teach Kairi how to use the Keyblade, Sora ended up the teacher somehow.

"Hey!"

Kairi snapped out of her thoughts and looked up, seeing Sora and Riku on a boat heading for the island. "Sora! Riku!" She shouted and waved, swinging the Keyblade into the air. She giggled abit watching the two boys coming towards the island.

Sora stood right foot on the head of the ship. Riku was behind him, rowing the both of them towards the island. Sora had his Keyblade out and pointed it towards the island.

"I don't care what Jack Sparrow told you. You're. Not. A. Pirate!" Riku said, irratition in his voice.

"Quiet first mate Riku! Land ahoy!"

"Now you're the lookout?"

"Aye!"

"Argh."

"That's the spirit Riku!"

"I'm not playing along."

Finally reaching the island, Sora jumped off and onto the dock, grinning at Kairi.

"Sorry we're late. Detention let out alittle late and we lost track of time." Sora sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Not to mention we had to finish cleaning the cafeteria." Riku added in, stepping onto the dock.

"Oh yeah! Did you get the pudding out Riku?" Kairi asked concerned. She was there when it happened of course; they share the same lunch. When it happened, she was obviously concerned and confused as to why Sora did it, but she found some humor in it.

"Yeah. Luckily it wasn't too bad." Riku snickered playfully. "By the way, don't get upset when I get my revenge Sora!" The older key bearer folded his arms.

Sora chuckled nervously. Riku, alothough as mature as he was, he was still feared for his pranking skills and vengeful nature. Those two combined has embarrased atleast the entire student body. "Err...Let's start training Kairi!" Sora ran for the open area on the beach.

"Wait for me!" Kairi ran after her teacher.

Of course, Riku followed behind, keeping to himself and enjoy the show that was sure to be put on infront of him.

Meanwhile...

In a barren desert, a single man stood in the center of a crossroad. His hunched over appearance would fool many into believing that this old man was simply lost and had no recallation of where he was. However, Master Xehanort knew very well where he was and the events that transpired during his absence. His plan had failed, just as Terra predicted and he was shown the door. Twice, as a matter of fact. One time it nearly killed him. But his fail safe of having a strong heart and determination proved to pay off when he reformed in the realm of darkness. That is where he is now; the Keyblade Graveyard had fallen into darkness after the battles and the overwhelming darkness devoured it.

Xehanort waited with both eyes closed as a sandstorm raged around him. His mind was in several different places, crafting ideas and plans. Once the sandstorm ceased, however, two roads remained. One infront of him, and one behind him. The Graveyard had been dramatically redesigned thanks the the old man, and he was proud of his work.

The road infront of him was beeing traversed by a man in a black hood. A dark face and silver hair crept from the edges along with a arrogant smile.

The road behind him had a stranger traveler. His attire was very similiar to Xehanort, but his skin was darker than both Xehanort and the unknown man. He had a symbol on his chest that was widely recgnoized as the symbol of the Heartless.

Xehanort smirked and opened his piercing orange eyes. "So this is what I became after I passed." He turned so his back was facing the graveyard. He smiled and laughed whole heartidly.

"Welcome home...Xemnas..." He turned to face the other traveler. "And you too...Ansem, Seeker of Darkness."

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So that was Chapter 1! I can actually say with confidence that the second chapter will be out soon! It depends on how large of a deman this fanfic gets (Which I'm not expecting alot ~.^)

**Review/Fav/Alerts please! Constructive Critcism is always welcomed!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 is finally up! Although it's alot of work to get these chapters done, I have to say that this is working beautifully! I may not be able to juggle fanfictions, but atleast I can give the ones Im working on my full attention!

**Chapter 2: Confrontation with Me**

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The cloaked man removed his hood, allowing his long silver hair to come down. "Interesting." he began. "You seem to know me. However, I have no memory of you." He stretched a hand out in his dramatic fashion. "Who are you?"

"Hm." The heartless scuffed. "Obviously he's a senial old man." The Seeker of Darkness interuppted rudely.

"Intriguing. I don't remember having such an attitude." He sneered. "It would explain how a child got the best of you." Xehanort chuckled lowly. "Twice."

He struck a chord with that comment. The Guardian appeared behind the powerful Heartless, ready for battle. "You have a sharp tongue for an elder." The Guardian formed two orbs of darkness in his hands. "Let's see if you can keep it."

"How would you know of the manner of his defeat?" Xemnas asked calmly, pulling the attention of Xehanort away from his heartless.

Xehanort's orange eyes glared towards Xemnas, giving the Nobody a slight unease. It appeared as if Xehanort was looking straight threw the leader of Organization XIII. However, the Nobody wouldn't let him see him sweat. Xehanort finally chuckled. He held a hand out to both Ansem and Xemnas. "You're my heartless." He looked at Ansem with a smirk. "I know of your studies. Your obsession with everlasting darkness. And how a single boy boy thwarted your plans."

Ansem grinded his teeth and gripped his fist harder. The Guardian roared, obviously showing the blunt of Ansems new found hatred for the old man.

"And you..." He looked towards Xemnas. "You're my discarded body. I have all of your memories. I know of the Organization XIII, your desire to see Kingdom Hearts and become whole again." He smiled sinisterly. "Ironically, your plans are the only one that seemed to have come into fruition." The aged Keyblade master clapped. "Congratulations." he held his arms out wide. "You're whole now."

Xemnas' expression didn't change. He was a being of no emotion, afterall. Instead of being upset or embarassed, the powerful Nobody laughed. Of course, there was no heart in it. He doesn't have one. Y'know?

"Are you trying to provoke me?" Xemnas' hands began to crackle with blood red lightning.

Xehanort, instead of coming back with another provoking comment, simply smiled.

"If what you say is true, then how are we here now?" The seeker of darkness finally spoke.

"That's a good question." Xehanort looked up into the sky. "It's because of my will. You're nothing more than creatures created from darkness. It's not a stretch for me to manipulate the darkness to take on a shape that I deem necessary."

"That's highly unlikely." Xemnas interuppted. "You don't appear to have that kind of power."

"Maybe not." Xehanort formed his keyblade in his hand, surprising both of his incarnations.

"A keyblade?"

"Impossible!"

"Would you care to test it? I haven't had any exercise for years." Xehanort asked, seemingly dropping his guard.

The first to strike was Ansem. Immediantly, he enveloped himself in darkness, forming the battleship World of Darkness. The large figure eclipsed the area in darkness, turning the area to night suddenly. Xehanort turned and watched as Ansem prepared his attack.

And then suddenly, he was surrounded by lasers. Turning around, the old Keyblade Master say an array of lasers pointed at him. "Is this your technique?" He asked the Seeker.

"I'm afraid it's mine."

The voice from above belonged to Xemnas who doned his white cloak with tribal designs. He was covered in blue electricty. The dome of lasers readied themselves to fire. As Xehanort began to study the attack, he noticed that the World of Darkness was preparing to fire a blast from its mouth. Both entities shot their respective attacks at their supposed true being.

* * *

Flames covered a good portion of the beach. Half of the flames were from Riku's Dark Aura and the other half was from Sora's Keyblade. Kairi stood on the outside of the flames, watching Sora and Riku fight. Well, a better word for it would be a demonstration. Riku felt that she should atleast know one spell and Sora decided that Fire was the most versatile, thus would be used more. The point was for her to watch them and try to understand what allows them use the flames.

"If it gets any hotter I think I'm gonna have a stroke." Riku said, sweat pouring from his forehead like a waterfall. "What do you say to putting out these flames?"

Sora nodded. "Right." He held his Keyblade out infront of him in both hands. A crown of light appeared under Sora and soon the flames were drawn back into the Keyblade. Riku put his hand out and the black and blue flames flew into his hand and reformed Way to Dawn.

"So did you get any of that Kairi?" Sora called over, fatigue obvious in his voice.

"Y-yeah." She said nervously. She never liked not understanding something. If she got it wrong, she would be embarassed. "It seems that whenever you feel a strong emotion, you can use the spells. Right?"

Sora thought for a second. "Yeah that sounds right."

"You just don't have the experience to use spells yet." Riku added. "It'll come to you."

"Yeah. There was a time where I couldn't even use the Keyblade! Let alone any spells." Sora reassured her.

Kairi nodded. It did bother her just alittle bit that she was the inexperienced one in the group. She was always able to tease both Sora and Riku, but it just didn't feel right knowing that Sora and Riku can both cut a building in half in their sleep.

A few hours later, Sora and Riku had both packed their things and prepared to head off for their Mark of Mastery training. Did they tell their parents? They said they did. But they really didn't. It was hard enough just getting out to the island now, let alone going back on an adventure.

"Take care you two!" Kairi shouted to her best friends as they jumped into the Gummi Ship that was sent to them.

"We'll be back just before you know it!" Sora grinned down at his femal friend.

As assuring as that was for Kairi, she couldn't help but feel alittle sad, and selfish. Why did her friends have to be super powered? As cool as it was, she just couldn't help feeling like life would be better if Sora and Riku never got caught up in this. Riku would be less concerned about his powers and more open with them, and maybe her and Sora would've gotten together. But it seemed that they only care about adventures, although they both always talk about how good it is to be home.

Before Sora closed the lid to their ship, a package flew up from below and landed infront of Sora. Confused, Sora looked at it then down. Kairi had a smile on her face. "Come back to me."

Sora's cheeks flushed a bright shade of pink. It was enough the earn a smile from Riku. "Y-Yeah." Sora said, doing his best to smile at Kairi and not let her see him blush. If you never tried it, this act is quite difficult to pull off.

Soon, the engine roared and the Gummi Ship began to take off. Kairi stepped back and blocked her eyes from the flying sand. Once the sand settled, she looked up and saw the smoke from the ship jetting off into the atmosphere.

"Make it back in one piece." Kairi whispered to herself.

* * *

The Keyblade Graveyard was in worse shape then it was when Xehanort returned. He stood ontop of a large stilagmite, Keyblade in hand and completely unharmed. However, his counterparts didn't have the same luck.

Ansem was by far in the worse shape; The World of Darkness had been completely anihalated. Ansem still had some of the cords from the battleship stuck in his back, but he had scars all over his body and was barely concious.

Xemnas was back in his black cloak. There was cut marks all over the cloak, almost to the point where Xemnas would need a new one. He had a large gash going down his left eye and it appeared that his right arm wouldn't be working properly for awhile.

All the while, Xehanort appeared to be the disappointed one. "This is the limit of my body and heart? What a shame." He suddenly appeared before the both of them. "Will you now listen to my proposal?"

Xemnas glared at the Xehanort. It wasn't even considered a fight! The keyblade Master danced around their attacks and when he decided to get serious, it was over before they knew what happened.

"Well I guess you would have no choice. Unless you would like to start Round 2?" He brought the Keyblade to Xemnas' face.

Xemnas moved his head back alittle to get the giant key out of his face. Yet, all the Nobody could do was look away.

"Wha...do you want?" The nearly unconcious Ansem finally spoke.

"Hm?" Xehanort turned his attention. "That's not why I called you here. We all share a single ambition: Kingdom Hearts." He began to walk away from them. "Help me create the X-Blade, and I'll give you what you desire." He smiled. "For you, Ansem, I will give you over whelming darkness. Surely enough to become your own entity and get your revenge. And for you Xemnas, you'll be given as many hearts as you wish. Perhaps you'll use the hearts to reasemble Organization." Xehanort snapped his finger and suddenly darkness poured from the injured Nobody and Heartless' wounds.

"Come. We have much planning to do." Xehanort announced. The two figures stood and watched as the elder opened a Corridor of Darkness. "We need a world of Pure Light and one with Pure Darkness." He clenched his hand into a fist. "We need their hearts. That's step 1."

"Where exactly are we heading?" Xemnas asked.

Xehanort stopped just before going into the portal. "Isn't it obvious?" He stepped into the portal, leaving only his voice to echo into the hollow world.

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So that's chapter 2! Thanks everyone for the Reviews! I really appreciate the love. haha. Be on the look out for chapter 3! I promise you, sh*t goes down! Haha, well see ya then!

**REV/FAV/ALERT PlZ!11!I!one!ii**


	3. Chapter 3

*Bows bows* I'm sorry for the late update. Things have been happening to many pretty fast (all good) so I had to take time off to deal with everything. But everything seems to be normal now, so all chapters will be put up on schedule. Yay!

And thanks to everyone for the Reviws/Favs/Alerts! To make it up to ya, I'm uploading TWO shiny new chapters! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did writing them!

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Chapter 3: Darkness

The smoke all but settled from the rockets of the orange and yellow Gummi Ship. Kairi sat on the beach looking up into the sky. She watched the stream of smoke from the ship fade into the air. She never really noticed how quiet the island could be without Sora and Riku causing havoc for everyone. She smiled. They probably had no clue about how quiet and peaceful the island could be.

"Kairi!"

The red haired girl was snapped from her thoughts and looked to her right. From the docks came her other friends who used the island; Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie.

"Hey guys!" Kairi said with a sincere smile and a hint of surprise. She hung out with Selphie on a daily basis; that was practically her sister and, most of all, gossip buddy. So that wasn't what was surpised her. What shocked her was that Tidus and Wakka was following behind her. The two boys had recently tooken up the liking of the sport Baseball. They played everyday after school in the park until dark. How Selphie got them away from the game was beyond her. "What're you doing here?"

"What we're not allowed here anymore?" Tidus said with a grin very similar to Soras. "Just because we don't come here often doesn't mean we gave up coming here!"

"But more importantly, what was that?" Wakka pointed into the nearly non-existant stream of smoke.

"Hm?" Kairi looked up. Could they be talking about the Gummi Ship? Or that slightly odd star that was visible in the sky? "What're you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb!" Selphie pouted. "That rocket came from this island, didn't it?" She stated, more than asked.

"Er." Kairi never told them about their adventures. She didn't want Selphie to worry and she didn't want Wakka and Tidus to get jealous about Sora and Riku's adventures.

"And there's an extra boat here! Who does it belong to?" Tidus pressed further.

"Um.." Kairi took a step backward. This would be very difficult to get out of without resorting to that tactic.

"C'mon Kai." Wakka said calmly. "You can tell us. We can keep secrets."

That was one thing that Kairi was sure that they COULDN'T do. Selphie was the schools #1 Gossip Bank. She would surely tell someone. Travels? Adventures? Heartless? Nobodies? If she even believed it, it would be too juicy of a story to keep to herself.

Tidus and Wakka would undoubtedly let the info slip. Probably talk alittle too loud about it, then the whole school is coming to the island and questioning about Sora and Riku's sudden absence!

_'Crap...!_' It just donned on her! She had to come up with a new excuse now for Sora and Riku's abscence to the school and parents! She had no time to worry about anything else.

Breathing in heavily and closing her eyes, Kairi decided to end this the only way she knew possible: Ice Queen Kairi Mode!

Opening her eyes, she donned a more, intimidating and and cold look. "If you guys got time to worry about trivial thing such as a small smoke signal, then you should focus more on your studies." Her words was enough to send a shiver down the spine of Tidus and Wakka, who were both close to the bottom of their class.

Selphie, however recgnoized the attitude; over the years Kairi developed a second personality that was known was Ice Queen. With her beauty and gentle personality, Kairi was approached by a plethora of men for dates. Kairi was forced to develop her cold demeanor to drive them away from her and keep them afar.

"But...the smoke..." Wakka tried to get back on topic.

"We have a report due in two days. You should really be at the library right now."

"Why? You're here." Tidus defended himself and Wakka.

"My report is on this island. The plantation, formation, and history. Its better to get knowledge from the source. My dad is mayor, remember?" She pointed to the mainlands. "Go."

"Awww..." Wakka moaned in his surfer accent.

"Lets go..." Tidus and his buddy slumped and walked away, Selphie still standing next to Kairi watched her two male friends go.

"You should leave to." Kairi looked at Selphie. "You have a B in our class and this report can make or fail-"

"Cut the act Kairi." The younger girl smiled at her older sister figure. "I know you better than you think." Kairi raised an eyebrow, but smiled. "If it's something you can't tell us, then I'll respect it." She held up a finger. "But I expect a full explanation soon!"

The princess of heart chuckled abit. "Ok."

Just as Selphie began to make her way to the boats where the two guys were waiting for her, Kairi turned and started to walk towards the Secret Area. It was always a great place to think.

"What was you two talking about?" Tidus asked Selphie.

"Girl stuff! Wanna hear?"

"No no no we're good!" Both boys replied in unison.

Kairi rubbed her fingers along the stones in the secret place. The sun shined from the top directly onto the image of her and Sora sharing a paopu fruit that was carved in stone. That was her favorite place to stop and kneel. It doesn't matter how many times Kairi saw that picture, it always made her smile happily. The thought of them linking fates just gave her goosebumps!

She reminsect back to the days where she first arrived on the island. When she first went to school.

* * *

_It was snack time. All the kids sat with thier friends, talked, laughed, and had fun. Kairi, with her paperbag of goodies, had no where to sit. She was alittle intimidated to be honest. She began to tear up alittle bit as crazy thoughts of lonliness came into her mind._

_"Hey! I'll trade you for something!"_

_The voice startled Kairi and she jumped alittle. A boy with brown spikey hair was smiling brightly at her. He had a fruit cup in his hand. Obviously pineapple. "Huh?"_

_"My mom always give me this stuff. But I don't like pineapple!" Sora explained. "Do you like pineapple?"_

_"Y-yes." her timid nature was getting the best of her._

_"Great!" The boy said loudly, startling the girl again. "Whatcha got?" He leaned closer to the bag, as if trying to see threw it._

_"Oh. Um.." She opened it and looked inside. She had a juice box, an apple, and gummi worms. She had no idea what boys liked, let alone what this boy liked._

_'Daddy likes Gummi Worms...' Was the only thought she had._

_"I have these." She pulled out the pack of Gummi Worms, holding them for Sora to see. "You want them?"_

_Sora had no response. He stood on the spot, staring at the worms. "Ohhh." he was in awe. He wasn't allowed to have them at home (he was already hyper. Last thing he needed was MORE sugar) so this was too good to pass up!_

_He handed Kairi his pineapple cup and he took the worms and opened the pack. He was greeted by a big whif of sugary delight._

_"Thanks!" He beamed. "My name is Sora!"_

_"My name is Kairi!" She smiled back at her new friend._

_"Nice to meet you! Wanna sit with me and my friend?" He pointed to an older boy with silver hair. "Riku is a great guy! Protects me from bullies!" He grinned. "He's alot of fun!"_

_This was all happening so fast! She had just started school and she had made a friend! Maybe 2! Kairi nodded and was led to where Riku sat. The three of them joked and had fun! They swore to stay best friends for life!_

_

* * *

_

BOOM!

Kairi was snapped out of her thoughts and shot out of the Secret Place by a burst of sudden wind. She landed on her back on the beach. Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie had just left the island, but saw wha happened. They jumped from the boat and swam to shore.

"Kairi!

"You alright?"

"Open your eyes Kai!"

The female keyblade wielder groaned and opened her eyes slowly. She sat up and held her head. What the hell was that?

"Im fine." She replied lowly, trying to deal with the headache she got and try to make sense of what just happened.

Back inside of the Secret Place, the door that had always been shut was suddenly open. Darkness leeked and oozed from the door and began to cover the Secret Place. From the outside, darkness was rising from all holes and cracks. It was spreading all over the island at an alarming rate, transforming most of the surrounding into a demonic form.

From the darkness stepped a single man. Someone that Kairi sensed a great deal of darkness from. The newcomer walked from the Secret Place, down onto the beach, and straight past the group. He stood on the shore facing the mainland, arms folded behind his back.

"H-hey!" Tidus jumped up and got ready for a fight.

The man ignored the boy.

"Who are you. What do you want?"

Silence.

"He's talking to you...you...creeper!" Selphie shouted, still at Kairi side.

Silence.

Wakka squinted his eyes. There was something wrong about this guy. He didn't know what it was, but something was off. He looked normal, as far as no portuding marks or skin pigmentation. "Hey. Tidus." He said calmly. "Get back."

"Like hell I will!" He began to charge to man, all intentions to get some info out of him. The hard way.

"Tidus!" Slephie shouted

"Dammit!" Wakka sprinted after his knuckle-headed friend. "Think about what you're doing, man!" Wakka began to catch up. "We need to think!"

Finally, the silence that the man had installed was broke. His concentration was crushed, and he wasn't happy about it. He turned and with an open palm pointed at Tidus, whispered an incantation.

"Fire."

Suddenly, Tidus' shirt went up in black flames. Taken back by this, he stopped in his track before being tackled by Wakka onto the sand. Tidus screamed as the flames reached his skin and began to burn.

"Roll man! Roll!" Wakka instructed his buddy with all serisousness in his voice. "Put the fire out!"

"Don't you have any respect for a man who's in thought?" The raspy voice from the man sent a cold spell on Kairi.

She was in complete shock this whole time. Not at the man, who appeared to be quite aged by his facial structure, but by the amount of darkness he embodied. Somehow, she couldn't sense any light in him at all. "Wh..." She began to say. "Who are you?"

The elder turned his attention to Kairi. His eyes lit up abit. "My my. So much light in such a little body." he took a step towards her, but was cut off by Wakka and Tidus, who had the shirt off and no serious wounds. Both men were prepared to fight this weird...thing. "Answer her question!" Tidus spat.

"Hm." He smiled. "You may call me Master Xehanort." The man said, summoning a keyblade into his hand, shocking all.

"What's that?" Selphie shouted.

"...a keyblade?" Kairi whispered._ 'Impossible! I thought you needed a pure heart to wield a keyblade. That's what Sora told me. So how can he use one?_' Her mind raced as she tried to make sense of this newcomer.

"And I'm here to end this world." He pointed the Keyblade into the air. Darkness began to form from its tip.

Something in Kairi warned her of this attack. It reminded her of what Sora does with his keyblade when he shot light from it. But this one seemed to be filled with nothing but ill desire. "Get back!"

Wakka and Tidus turned to Kairi, totally confused and slightly afraid.

"Get back! He's about to attack!" She warned her two friends.

"What?" Selphie's voice was covered in fear and worry. She never asked for any of this! How did she get caught in this? Better question was...How did Kairi know what was going on?

With a smirk, Xehanort's Keyblade shot into the air and the blue sky was soon covered in darkness. The weird star, now a swirling vortex of darkness that tore the world asunder! Pieces of the island and mainland began to shake violently; Wakka and Tidus lost their footing and fell back. Xehanort triumphantly watched as his plan began to take form.

The island began to lift from the sea and into the air, towards the vortex. His work here was finished. All that was left was to look for a suitable X-Blade wielder. Without a word, he opened a Corridor of Darkness and began towards it.

"Wait..." Kairi said.

Nothing.

"I said wait!" She jumped up, summoned her Keyblade, and chucked it towards the elder. The keyblade burned with the power of light and travled directly towards Xehanort's back.

With a smile, and without even turning, he deflected the woman's keyblade. A single slash from nowhere protected his upper back from the keyblade. Destiny's Place flew from the edge towards the water below.

"Intriguing." Xehanort said, back still facing the group.

Kairi took a defensive stance, summoning her keyblade back. "Guys. Get behind me." She ordered. "I'll handle this."

"You're quite skilled." Xehanort turned to Kairi, giving her his full attention. "I wonder if you are capable of more." He smiled sinisterly and snapped, closing the Corridor of Darkness and summoning Neo Shadows to surround Kairi and her friends.

"Ughwaa!" Selphie cried

"What the?" Tidus responded, looking side to side.

"What the hell are these things?" Wakka paniced.

Out of any emotion she could feel at the moment, Kairi felt regret in her heart. If she wasn't so wrapped up in herself she wouldn't have gone into the Secret Place. She would've left with Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie. Atleast they could've escaped.

"They're heartless." Kairi informed her friends. "Beings made from darkness with no heart." She gripped her keyblade harder. "They hunt people and take their hearts."

"What?" They all shouted in unison.

"Don't worry. I think I have the strongest heart here." 'Besides that guy...if he even have a heart.'Her features darkned. She had to be completely serious if this was going to work.

Her free hand shined for a split second. A small, strand of light began to form a blade, slowly in her hand. "I'll protect everyone!" She shouted and took a fighters stance, along with that, the Oathkeeper finally formed into her hand.

The neo shadows became overly excited at her power of light and rushed forward towards the young princess.

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OHO! Things seemed to be going from bad to terrible very quickly! Do you guys think Kairi can handle Master Xehanort by herself? Hmm well we shall see soon!

FAV/REV/ALERTS! (I need them to survive .)


	4. Chapter 4

And just like I promised, the second chapter has been uploaded for my fans as a bonus! Ennnnnnnjoy!

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Chapter 4: End Game

Turning on her heel, Kairi grunted and slashed with her Keyblade horizantally towards the jumping Neo Shadows. "Fire!" Flames burst from around her and her friends, protecting them all from the attacking the Neo Shadows. The shadows roared in pain from the heat that burned their...flesh? Shadows? Whatever was the surface of their skin, it was burned.

They burst into shadows that faded into the air. Once the dome of fire ceased, Kairi breathed heavily, grasping the two Keyblades as hard as she could. Sweat formed and cascaded from her forhead. She felt an awful strain from within her chest at the same time. Believe it or not, but she was warned.

"Don't tell me you reached your limit so soon, little girl." The old master called out from the sidelines. He found the fact that she was so young, full of pure light, and had a strong enough heart to handle the force of 2 keyblades intriguing. "But I should warn you." The elder snapped again, more Neo Shadows appearing. "More isnt neccesarialy better."

"Hm." Even with the obvious strain, Kairi smirked at the challenger. "I know that! Don't try to lecture me." The young teen said with confidence booming in her voice. She prepared for the new formed heartless to pounce any second.

"Kairi!" Kairi stopped and peeked behind her. The shocked faces of Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka was all she could see.

_'There goes keeping this a secret..._' Kairi sighed and turned her attention back to the heartless. "Find some kind of cover. Don't worry about me." She clutched the Keyblades and got into a fighting stance. "I can handle myself."

Even though Tidus and Selphie didn't want to leave Kairi and wanted to help, Wakka convinced them that it would be best to leave Kairi to her own. "She obviously has abilities we can't comprehend." He rested his hands reassuringly on their shoulders. "If something bad happens, we'll jump in." He left it at that and took his friends to cover.

The dark master allowed the less interesting teens to retreat; they seemed to possess little power in their hearts. It was nothing worth chasing after. But the teenager infront of him, the child that's capable of wielding two keyblades and ingore the strain of it all, was a more fascinating subject. However, she did seem to be tiring quickly. "Put the keyblades down." Xehanort tried to coast her. "It's obvious that you can't yet handle the strain."

"I don't need you to be concerned about me." Kairi charged towards the Neo Shadow, full intent on protecting her friends from them.

* * *

_"Now Kairi, there're a few things you should know before we further your training." Sora said, standing in his all black attire. Kairi nodded with determination. It kind of surprised Sora with how things got set up. He thought Riku would've been the best condadidate to teach her, but somehow he got involved in doing the job._

_Oh well. No turning back now. "You know how to summon your keyblade, right?"_

_"Yeah." She nodded and held out her hand, summoning Destiny Place in a beam of light and some flower petals. "In order to use my keyblade, I must..." Kairi paused and looked down at the intricate designs of her keyblade. "I must feel the need to fight. In order to protect my friends." She looked back up at Sora. "Right?"_

_"Beats me."_

_"What?" The confused princess questioned._

_"Keyblades are like snowflakes." Riku added in from behind Kairi. He leaned against the wooden door of the shack that was built into the rock side. "The feeling you need to feel to summon each one is different."_

_"To summon my keyblade, Kingdom Key, I need to be fearless." He paused for a moment and summoned his keyblade into his right hand. "I can't fear the darkness or what resides in it." He grinned and de-summoned his keyblade. "It's the easiest for me to summon. That's why it's my favorite."_

_Riku stood off of the wall and walked to where his friends were. He stepped to the side of Kairi and summoned his Keyblade, Way to Dawn. "I must recall my desire to journey from the darkness and towards the light." he added._

_"I see." Kairi was very interested in these topics. She was still learning afterall. Even though her skills with the keyblade is minimal, Sora has stated that she's better then when he had first got the keyblade. When she asked Riku, he said that she's around the level of when he had first got Soul Eater. Even though the praise has been good, she felt that Sora and Riku was giving her too much praise. She barely had any combat experience, outside of killing 3 heartless. Sora and Riku had encountered countless heartless and nobodies! They could probably deal with them in their sleep now._

_"I was wondering." Kairi began, desummoning Destiny Place. "Can you wield 2 keyblades at once?"_

_"Yeah it's possible." Riku answered. "Roxas, Sora's Nobody, was real skilled at dual wielding."_

_"Yeah he was." Sora remembered his fight with the nobody. "I would've lost if I didn't take him by surprise at the end."_

_"Hm. Same here." Riku agreed. He hadn't known Sora fought his nobody once. If he was good enough to outmatch both him and Sora, that only lead Riku to ponder one question: Where did he get the skill to do that?_

_"But I can use 2 also!" Sora added in. "Although the only ones I'm any good with is Oathkeeper and Oblivion." Sora chuckled. "In a way, they remind me of you guys."_

_Riku smirked alittle, but Kairi had wanted to see a demonstration of it. "If you wouldn't mind Sora...Can you show me?" She asked hestiantly._

_Sora nodded and held out his hand. "I'm not sure how good I am with this. I haven't Dual Wielded in awhile. Atleast while I'm not using Drive." A slow steady beam of pure light formed in Sora's left hand and a beam of darkness appeared in Sora's right hand._

_"Maybe I should-" Riku began, before being stopped by Sora._

_"No it's fine." Sora showed obvious struggle with summoning the two keyblades. Kairi took note if the apparent difficulty that Sora was having. "I can handle this."_

_Finally, the Oblivion and Oathkeeper came to Sora. Black electricty circled around Oblivion for an instant. The Oathkeeper had white stars fall for the same length of time._

_Kairi had to admit, Sora looked pretty impressive dual wielding keyblades. The black and white keys went will with his outfit, as well._

_However, Sora quickly dropped to one knee and dropped the Oblivion Keyblade, forcing the key to vanish into the darkness that it appeared from. "Sora!" Kairi reached out for her friend in great concern. He seemed to have been in a great deal of stress._

_Riku ran forward before being stopped by a hand from Sora. He looked up at his bud and grinned his signature grin. But they all knew that Sora was feeling the effects of using two keyblades. His face had a glow to it now, due to sweat forming on his face. But, even with all of that, Sora stood back up and held out the Oathkeeper._

_"That's the best I can do at the moment." He smiled sheepishly. "I'm out of practice."_

_Riku sighed heavily and looked down. "If that was the case you should've just asked me to do it." Riku said and put a hand on his hip and one in his pocket. "I don't like the feel of it, but I can use Oblivion too."_

_All of this talk was _going right over Kairi's head. But what she did understand was that using two keyblades at once takes a considerable amount out of the user. "Why?" She thought outloud.

_"Why what?" Sora asked, hearing Kairi's question eventhough it was barely above a whisper._

_"Oh! I wanted to know why dual weilding keyblades take such a strain on you." She said, placing both her hands behind her back. "That's all."_

_"Actually, different Keyblades gives different strains." Riku said. "Like I said earlier, every keyblade are different. When dual wielding, it's all about finding the ones the mix well together."_

_"Oblivion is a keyblade to thrives on anger and the need for power. But the Oathkeeper is a keyblade that lives in the realm of light and is summoned from pure and sincere thoughts." Sora chuckled and wiped some of the sweat from his head. "Obviously trying to balance both emotions puts a strain on the heart."_

_"Oh." Kairi spoke. She looked at her right hand and summoned the Destiny Place to her hand. 'I wonder if I have what it takes.' She said. There was no strain when she used her keyblade._

_

* * *

_

"I'm a choosen wielder of the Keyblade!" She shouted and battled with the creatures from darkness. She sliced and diced! Shadows went flying from the attacks of teh young Keyblade wielder. She grunted and shouted as she put more and more effort into her swings. She had Sora as her combat teacher and Riku for a consultant; these shadows were nothing to her!

_'Where did this come from_?' Xehamort thought as he watched the little girl slaughter heartless after heartless with nothing more than a few swings._ 'Just a second ago she seemed ready to kill over. But now, it's as if she's a completely different person._' His smirk soon disappeared and a scowl replaced it's place. _'My heartless was right; she's more of a threat than I thought._' Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, had warned Xehanort about the island; He had informed him of the boys Sora and Riku and the female Kairi. He had told him that she possessed no combat capablity, but her pure heart would pose a threat.

His instincts seemed to be correct.

"Gyahh!" Kairi shouted and stabbed the keyblades into the ground, causing fire to surround her in a vortex. The Shadows began to roast in the flames and were sent flying away from Kairi, leaving only her and the aged Keyblade Master.

However, she fell to one knee and used both keyblades to keep herself up. Oathkeeper vanished from her exhausted grip and she climbed to her feet slowly. Her legs shook a bit, obviously from fatigue. None of the less, she put up a defensive stance.

Only sound that could be heard was Xehanort clapping.

"You seem quite skilled in these arts." Xehanort called over to her. "However, there are some things that I don't think you quite comprehend." He began to walk towards her, obviously putting her on the edge.

"For one, anyone can dual wield." He said, surprising the princess a bit. "It's not about skill. It's about how much your heart can take before breaking." He smirked.

"Break?"

"Yes." Xehanort formed a heart from darkness in his hand. "A Keybearer is decided by how much power their hearts hold. Once they are choosen, a keyblade is linked to their spirits. And when the keyblade is being used, the heart devotes it's powers to that keyblade." The dark heart glowed slightly and beautifully for something constructed from darkness. "There is no strain. For the keyblade is simply using the hearts power to use it's own. However, when there are two keyblades," The heart glowed brighter. It almost turned into a blinding light. It was enough to make Kairi shield her own eyes from the brightness. "The amount of power that is taken away from your heart is astronomical. That's why it's not advised to dual wield keyblades. And why most masters stick to one." By time the light cleared, Xehanort stood behind Kairi, keyblade behind his back.

Kairi, feeling the crawling darkness behind her, swung with all her strength towards the elders blind spot. The clash of keyblades, however, sent the young woman flying back abit. She landed on her back, keyblade a few inches away from her reach. She groaned from the pain that was now in her back and hand from having the keyblade forcefully removed from her grip. She sat up and reached for her keyblade and stood, pointing the tip at Xehanort, who still haven't turned to her yet.

"Why are you here." Kairi demanded.

"Does it matter?"

"Answer the question!"

"Ah! Was that anger I heard?" He turned to her. "Such a being of nothing but light, it should be impossible for you to generate hatred."

"Hates a strong word."

"So it is." He said disappointed. "Well let's see if I can get you to feel that strong." He slashed his keyblade towards her direction. A gust of darkness flew from the ground and towards Kairi.

She was too tired to move quick enough. All she could do was put her Keyblade infront of her and hope for some kind of defense against the weird attack. What she recieved, though, was an overwhelming force that sent her flying into the wooden shack behind her and with a loud, sickening, crack she broke the door down upon impact.

"Kairi!" Selphie managed to shout from her state of shock.

"That does it!" Tidus grabbed a fairly large rock and turned to Wakka. They stood and watched long enough. It was time to give Kairi some back up!

"I'm behind you man!" He suddenly had his signature soccer ball in his hand. Where that came from? Tidus didn't know. But Wakka was skilled with it. It would come in handy.

Armed and ready, the two boys charged the old man, leaving Selphie behind the saftey of cover.

Xehanort, waiting for Kairi to reemerge from the wreckage, simply sighed. "I'm above hurting children." He spoke metaphorically of course. What he meant was that he was against fighting people who had no power. Of course, he sensed the two charging teens and their measly aptitude for combat.

He turned and swung his keyblade casually. A gust of wind came from the blade, but it was nothing like what Kairi had recieved. This gust was barely above a storm. But yet, it knocked Wakka and Tidus off of their feet instantly. They landed on the beach with a thud. But sense sand broke their fall, getting up wasn't the hard part. Getting their wind back was.

Tidus did his best to breath, but a large hand took control of his head and lifted him up into the air. He struggled and fought in vain trying to free himself from the mans grip.

*Cling*

Like an automative defense, the air whipped behind Xehanort deflecting a flying Destiny Place that was aimed at the Masters back. Kairi's keyblade vanished and returned to her, who was just finishing climbing from the dubris. It was apparent that there was almost no fight left in the young wielder.

"Have you ever lost a friend?" Xehanort inquired with a dark tone.

Kairi just remained silent, fearing to answer his question.

"It's such a terrible feeling. I've lost so many friends in my long life. Some old, some young." He went on. "But you know what stayed the same?" He turned his head towards Kairi slightly. Only his eye was visible to her. "Their killer."

Tidus went up in black flames, his fighting now desperate cries and mumbled words that was lost in Xehanort's glove.

"TIDUS!" Wakka charged forth, but was caught by Xehanorts other hand; his keyblade vanished without anyone noticing.

"Stop it!" Kairi ran forward, swinging her keyblade down towards the smirking mans head. Her attack was stopped though, a barrier being what kept her attack from the mans head. She gritted her teeth and pressed the keyblade harder into the barrier.

The oldman chuckled. "Burst." he whispered, breaking the barrier with a violent explosion. Kairi shrieked and flew into the broken shack again. She dropped her keyblade upon impact and it slid against the ground, vanishing in light and petals.

"So that's it." Xehanort whispered to himself, dropping Tidus and Wakka. Wakka crawled towards his friends body. There was nothing left from the old Tidus; his body too severely burned to be recgnoized. The surfer boys face became disgusted and he turned away. Selphie's crying in the background didn't help at all.

Xehanort however, was now standing over the now unconcious Kairi. She didn't put up as good of a fight that he had hoped, but she did show potential. He smiled. She would make the perfect candidate for the X-Blade.

''What do we do with them?'' A voice called from the darkness. Xemnas appeared, his hood up, besides Xehanort. Them, he was referring to, was Wakka and Selphie. Tidus has long been turned into a corpse, and Wakka would just seek revenge. Selphie was too scared to even move from cover.

"They're not important. Do with them what you want." Xehanort replied coldly to his ally. "I got what I came here for."

A Corridor of Darkness appeared over Kairi's body, sucking her up into the chilling darkness. Xehanort followed after her and waved bye to Xemnas.

"Have fun."

Xemnas chuckled and turned, seeing Wakka gritting his teeth at the man. Xemnas began walking towards the beach, electricty forming around his right hand. "Can you spare...a heart?"

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Either it's more laptop or but editing on this thing is the hardest part of this story. I think it's deffective. Haha. I press bold on one sentence, and everything EXCEPT that sentence gets bolded. And when I try to bold everything except what I want bolded, IT BOLDS! Like this part. When I try to unbold, my whole story goes bold! - Ugh. Haha anyway, I hope you enjoyed that chapter

FAV/REV/ALERT!

********************************(stupid story editor...)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Masters Rest

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The Realm of Darkness had an eerie chill to it. Where the Realm of Light had a nice 'warmth' to it, the darkness felt sub-zero. The creatures in this domain had no kind of light to warm their bodies and hearts, so they grew used to the cold. But creatures from the Realm of Light always felt out of place.

"Ehhhhhhh..." The dead silence of the darkness was broken by a long winded groan. Thankfully, no heartless was lurking so there was no threat yet.

The lone road, a snowish white road was traversed by two travelers. These two travelers had been sent here on a mission. They were to find someone and bring them back from the darkness. But it had been weeks since they left on their journey.

"Quiet Donald!" A klutzy voice from Goofy whispered out to his companion. "There maybe heartless around." He walked low, keeping his head down and his shiled infront. His steps were heavier, but quieter than the mage who walked along as if he was on a normal stroll. The dog followed Donald threw the silence.

"Ahh quit being a scaredy cat!" Donald barked at his comrade. "And hurry up! We don't have all day." His voice echoed multiple times for several seconds before disappearing. If there was any heartless around, they would've been alerted his loud voice and blatant disregard for caution, which was odd for the strange duck.

"Mmm..." The knight whined and scurried closer to Donald so he wouldn't be left behind. "I can't help it!" He whispered defendingly. He was a dog so his senses was tuned higher than Donalds. He could hear them crawling, breathing, and crying. The heartless sounded as if they were around the corner, but he couldn't see a single one!

Donald gave up on trying to reason with Goofy. King Mickey had gave them both items that warded off the darkness. If they didn't have the crafted item, then heartless would be the least of their problems; they probably would've been swallowed up and corrupted by the darkness.

Donald came to a sudden halt. Goffy bumped into Donald and released a high pitched scream before covering his mouth with both hands...which caused him to drop his shield onto his foot and make a sound reminiscent to a cymbal...and then he screamed again, bouncing on one foot going, "Ow ow ow ow ow..."

The sudden noise from Goofy made Donald more and more irratated. He turned on his heel and jumped up and down in pure anger.

"Will you be quiet?"

Goofy immediantly stopped his criy and picked up his shield. Apparently the darkness made Donald slightly more irrate than normal.

"Now, we're here." Donald said looking around his surroundings. The road seemed to stretch on forever, yet the spot they were in was reacting to the star shapped crystal that Donald and Goofy had. The artifact was the same one Mickey used to traverse the worlds with no fear of the darkness. Yen Sid had crafted Mickey his copy and gave Donald and Goofy their own for this mission.

"Hm?" Goofy looked around. There wasn't much hear, yet he could feel the vibration from the Gummi Piece in his pants pocket just as easily as Donald felt his own piece in his hand. "But there's nothing here. Hyuck." He sniffed the air to make sure.

"I dont know." Donald shook the piece. "Stupid thing must be broken." Thinking that violence would fix it Donald threw the piece on the ground and began to jump on it angrily. "Work you!"

Goofy found amusement in Donalds display of anger towards the piece of item crafted from light. But it ended when light began to pour out of his pocket and flooded around him. "Hm?" Breaking his attention from Donald rage attack on the inanimate object, he pulled the Gummi from his pocket. From that point he began to float in the air. With a small shriek, he grabbed Donald and was shot into the air, both animals scarred and confused about what was happening.

Their destination unknown.

* * *

Like an asteroid, a bolt of light cam crashing down onto a substance that was hard on contact, but was soft was they stopped falling. Donald's groan was the only sound to be heard. Soon he snapped out of his confusion and picked up the dazed Goofy by the colar and shook him furiously.

"What did you do that for?" He blamed Goofy.

"But...I didn't do anything." Goofy defended and fought to break free from the smaller animals grip.

"Excuse me."

Yet, the duck kept furiously shaking the tall dog until his anger. He showed no signs of stopping.

"Ahem." An unkown voice cleared their throat louder than when they spoke.

"Hold on one second!" Donald said furiously, but stopped once his brain registered what happened. He turned his head alittle unnaturally quick at the voice that ceased his attack on Goofy. His beak dropped to the floor and he jumped off of Goofy, pointing his finger at the person.

"Y-you!"

Goofy, however, was still dazed from the crash and the shaking from Donald. To put shortly, everything was blurry and spinning. The next thing he heard was Donald yelling at him to get up. However, sleep sounded much more alluring. He turned and waved Donald away.

"Why you!" Donald grumbled before raising his finger in the air, causing a single lightning bolt to fall from the dark sky and strike Goofy. The dog instantly snapped awake and shrieked his Goofy shriek until he was on his feet. "Gosh Donald. You didn't have to shock me."

"Goofy! We found her!" Donald continued to point at the female, who was now very confused.

Goofy rubbed his eyes and looked past the fuzziness in his vision. What he saw was a young lady with short blue hair and blue eyes. Her outfit was dated abit compared to what Goofy saw, but he recgnoized her anyway.

"Master Aqua!" Goofy and Donald shouted and euphoria, hugging eachother and jumping up and down merrily.

Aqua wasn't as thrilled as the two animals, though. They did fall from the sky and nearly landed on her. If anything, she was more surpised to see that they were uninjured.

"Friends of yours?" This voice came from a man in a black trench coat. He sat one a lone rock with his arms folded. It was obvious from his voice that he was aged.

"Yeah. These are friends of mine." Aqua stepped back and allowed them to finish rejoicing.

"My name's Donald Duck!" Donald introduced himself, pointing his thumb into his chest.

Goofy leaned forward and tried to peek under the hood. Ofcourse, the man didn't mind. He didn't have anything to hide. Well, atleast he doesn't remember to hide anything.

"Is that you Ansem?" Goofy squinted his eyes before jumping back. "Donald! It's Ansem!"

"What?" Donald ran forward to get a peek. Once he saw the blonde hair and piercing orange eyes, he jumped back abit. "Ansem! You're alive!"

"So I am." he replied calmly. "I'm terribly sorry, but who are you again?"

Goofy suddenly had a look of hurt on his face. "You don't remember us?"

"It's not you." Aqua said from behind them. "He lost a great deal of his memories. Only thing he remembers now is a single boy named Sora."

"That's our friend!" Goofy cheered and turned towards Donald.

"You know this 'Sora'?" Ansem stood, intrigued now. He knew of the boy, but he didn't remember how he knew him. He wanted to question the lad and found out more about his memories.

"Yes. We're his friends. But that's not important at the moment." Donald cleared his throat. "Goofy. The letter!"

"Letter?" Goofy reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "This?" But before he could get an answer, Donald snatched the parchment from his friends hand and unfolded it.

"Master Aqua!" Donald shouted, startling the young woman. Her posture became stiff from the sudden formalness. Goofy and Ansem remianed aloof.

"Y-yes?"

"Ahem! This is a letter from King Mickey! He requests your full attention." he looked from the parchment and into her eyes. "It concerns Master Xehanort."

Just the name made Aqua tighten her fist. He was the guy responsible for all the problems in the realms. He was the reason why Terra wasn't himself when they fought. He's the reason why Ven is asleep. He's the reason she's stuck in the Realm of Darkness. She nodded, signaling Donald to continue.

* * *

**Dear Master Aqua,**

**I come to you in our time of great need. The Realms need your and the other masters help! We are currently issuing the Mark of Mastery to two new promising Keybearers. You will meet them very soon.**

**If all went well, my trusted servants and friends have got this letter to you. I have tasked Donald and Goofy with retrieving you from the Realm of Darkness and assisting you and regaining anything you may have lost.**

**But there is something I ask of you. What has happened with Ven and Terra? In order for Master Yen Sid to complete his counter strike against the growing threat, we need all of the power we can get.**

**If you have any further questions, please ask Donald and Goofy. They have been well equipped for any task you ask of them. I completely trust their skills.**

**Hoping to see you soon,**

**King Mickey**

* * *

Aqua replayed the events back in her head. She was currently en route to the Mysterious Tower where she will rendezvous with Mickey and Yen Sid. With her was Donald, Goofy, and Ansem. The Star Fragment was useful in getting them out of the cold darkness and into the light, but was a bit cramp, seeing how they were only using one; Donald lost his piece.

She didn't know what happened to Terra after she saved his body from the darkness that she spent the past 10 years in. She doesn't know what happened to him after the fight at the Keyblade Graveyard.

Ven, however, she kept safe. She placed him in The Land of Departure inside of the Throne Room. It had been crafted so only she could find his body. Just incase Master Xehanort went after him again. She agreed to show them the way to him.

But first, Donald and Goofy was ordered to bring her back to Yen Sid to undergo inspection. They said being left in the darkness for too long could've had side effects on her that she may not notice.

She did feel different being out of the darkness. The Darkness was silent. Monotonous. Cold. But here, in the Realm of Light, she felt warm. It was a feeling like she had finally come home after 10 years.

With a humble smile, she followed Donald and Goofy up the many staircases of the Mysterious Tower. Ansem the Wise kept quiet the whole time and even though he was free from the Realm of Darkness, his memories were still blanketed by fog.

Finally reaching the room, they were greeted with silence, as Yen Sid stood behind his chair facing outside of the moon shaped window. Aqua remembered being in this room several time throughout her adventures, but she was never as happy to see it as she was now. She looked around the room to see if anything changed. Surprisingly not much did.

"Master Yen Sid." Donald and Goofy bowed in respect to the great mage. "We have returned."

"And look!" Goofy rushed over the Ansem and put an arm around him. Ansem looked puzzeled for a few seconds, but relaxed. "We found Ansem the Wise!" The dog said cheerfully.

The aged former Keyblade Master turned and gave a smile. The two had done excellent work. He had to admit, he was sure that they would turn back once entering the Realm of Darkness. The Donald and Goofy of 2 years ago would've surely retreated. But they had gone threw alot and had done much training and hard work to stand by Sora's side. Sora's courage must've rubbed off on them.

"Excellent work Donald and Goofy." His voice was casual. You would never expect that he was actually anxious.

"Yes sir!" They saluted and stood to the side like statues.

"Now Aqua." Yen Sid's voice suddenly became much more stern and serious. It almost made her unsettled. But she had dealt with this attitude before from both Master Eraqus and Terra. She nodded readily. "I trust that you're up to speed with the current events?"

Aqua nodded again. "Yes. Donald and Goofy both told me abouut the growing threat from Xehanort's ressurection." Her hand turned into a light fist. "But there are many questions I would like to ask."

Yen Sid chuckled. "I assumed you would. I will answer all of the questions you have to ask in due time. But for now," He waved his hand and a door suddenly appeared where there was only a wall a few seconds before. "You need to rest. It's been 10 years since you were last in this realm. You must allow your heart to recover."

Aqua looked down to hide her anguish ridden face. She was a Keyblade Master, yet she was trapped for so long in the Realm of Darkness. So many things had happened in her absence that she felt ashamed for letting them happen, although Donald and Goofy both assured her that there was nothing she could do and that everything was being taken care of. But she knew something was wrong. Going threw all of the trouble to find her and her friends was proof of that enough. "Yes." She agreed disheartened.

"And then once you recover fully, you will take another Mark of Mastery."

"What?" Suprise and confusion was fused into one this time. "I dont understand why."

"Your skills are one of a master, don't get me wrong." He swung his hand and an image of a Heartless and a Nobody appeared. Aqua looked at these creatures puzzeled. "But as you may know, alot has happened. You must become familiar with the state of the worlds again." He paused. "And, you're current skills won't be enough to face the growing threat." he finally dropped the bombshell.

Aqua acknowledged all of that and brought her hand up. Palm towards Yen Sid, she summoned Master Eraqus' keyblade. "I lost my Keyblade saving Terra. But I still have this one." She looked Yen Sid in the eye with fierce determination. "I'll be ready this time." That statement was meant more for herself than Yen Sid. Last time she lost two of her best friends. They were ill prepared. She knew that they wasn't ready to take on Xehanort when they did, but trying to talk Terra and Ven out of a fight? It was like moving a mountain with your barehands. Heck, that was probably easier.

Turning, she walked into the door and it vanished from view. Concealed once more.

"Now, for you." Yen Sid turned his attention to Ansem the Wise who at this point removed his hood. "What is it that I can do for you?"

Ansem smiled. "All I ask for is my memories to be restored." He looked at his hand. "Being back in the Realm of Light, some of the fog has been cleared up. I remember how I got in the Realm of Darkness and I remember my allies." He looked back at Yen Sid. "But that's all."

Yen Sid considered a few ideas in his head before sitting in his seat. "I see." He closed his eyes in thought. There wasn't much he could do himself. Memory Magic was a very delicate matter and the slightest mishap could cost Ansem his very identity. And as powerful as Yen Sid was, he wasn't willing to gamble with this mans memories. "There's not much I can do for you." He spoke softly as if trying to give him sympathy with his bad news.

Shockingly, Ansem didn't seem all that upset. "I figured as much." Memories or not, he could always predict what someone would say just by body language alone.

"I would recommend resting for you as well." Yen Sid spoke. "If the darkness took your memories, then maybe the light can give it back with rest."

"Yes. It makes sense." Ansem turned and leaned against the wall. "I'll just stay in here with you then. Afterall I, too, have questions for you."

The old mage nodded. "As you wish."

"Um...Master?" Donald quacked. "What should we do?"

"Return to the Disney Palace." Yen Sid ordered. "With your King gone, they're defenseless. You two will defend them in his place." He gave them a reassuring smile and nod. He trusted that they could handle the job.

"Right!"

"Hyuck! Rodger that!"

And with that, the two bolted out of the room in a stream of light, threw the window, and into the starry night.

* * *

"Hey Riku!" Sora pointed at the light that came from the tower. "What do you think that is?" The young master had just got there a few seconds ago, but the sudden light put him on alert.

"I don't know." Riku said. "But we can ask this 'Yen Sid' guy once we get inside." He continued without stopping into the door.

Sora stayed outside for a bit longer. He swore he felt something towards the beam. Familiarity? He didn't know. Maybe it was his mind playing tricks on him. He had been thinking alot lately. Mostly about the sudden sadness in his heart. When he tried to reach out to it, he got nothing. Riku told him it was probably homesickness.

"Hey! You comin' or what?" Riku shouted.

"Huh? Oh wait!" Sora yelled back and followed after his friend.

* * *

So we have finally returned to Sora and Riku's story. The next chapter will be the start of their test, so I hope you stay tuned!

REV/FAV/ALERT!


	6. Chapter 6

Whats the reason for two new chapters? I dont know. haha. Im just really anxious to get these up! XD

* * *

Chapter 6: Task at Hand

The wide wooden door into Yen Sid's study slowly krept open, the young keyblade masters, Sora and Riku, on the other side. The boys both peeked around the room like they haven't been there before. Sora, was just curious as to where everyone was. Yen Sid wasn't in his chair, the King wasn't anywhere to be found, and he had hoped to see Donald and Goofy here, too. But all he saw was a large empty room. Disappointed, Sora sighed heavily.

Riku was astounded by the room. For the size of the room, you would never guess that it would fit in the tower. But then again, the tower was a peculiar place by itself. They walked threw portals instead of doors to get to different parts of the tower. The level of magic that would require to keep active is astonishing. Of course, Sora didn't seem all that impressed when Riku pointed that fact act. But Sora had told Riku that he had been there before and didn't really pay attention to it.

"So. We're here. Where's everybody?" Riku asked, looking around the room as if someone was invisible or hiding.

"Hello!" Sora shouted. "We're here!"

"Yes yes I can hear you."

The disembodied voice surprised Sora and Riku; Riku stopping in his tracks and looking around for the source of the voice and Sora did a small jump and turned around, expecting someone besides Riku to be there. But in a puff of purple smoke and glowing stars, Yen Sid appeared with his arms behind his back.

"I apologize of my late arrival. I was tending to a very urgent matter." What he was talking about of course was Ansem the Wise and Aqua. He had to properly check to see if the darkness effected them. To his surprise, Aqua was the least effected dispite her being in the darkness longer. Ansem was in need of urgent care and was currently asleep. He wouldn't wake until he fell deep enough in his sleep to recover his lost memories.

"That's what we're here about." Riku said and walked forward. He stood behind Yen Sid while Sora stood infront. "My name is Riku." He introduced himself.

Yen Sid turned so he could face Riku. "Ah yes. I've heard much about you from both Mickey Mouse and your good friend Sora."

Riku looked at Sora to see him grin and put his hands behind his head.

"But now is not the time for pleasantries." He said and walked towards his chair before taking a seat. "We must move swiftly. We must start the exam now."

"Yeaah about that." Sora scratched his head. "The letter wasn't really that clear about what this exam is exactly."

"If you can, can you fill us in on the details?" Riku asked.

Yen Sid nodded and snapped his fingers. On his desk a large aged book appeared and flipped itself to the middle of the book. Riku and Sora both moved so they could read the contents.

"You see, years ago Keyblades were handed out alot more frequently than they are now. During that time, Keyblade Masters would take on apprentices and train them." The elder explained.

"Like the people you explained in the letter?" Sora butted in.

Yen Sid nodded. "Aqua, Ven, and Terra. Out of those three, only Aqua became a true Keyblade Master. Ven was not old enough to take the test during the time it was happeneing." He took a brief second to catch his breath.

"What happened to Terra?" Riku ask with a mixture of concern and wonder. He remembered him. Terra was the guy who gave him the ability to use a keyblade. Although Sora didnt remember this, because he kept it a secret.

Yen Sid closed his eyes and bowed his head. "He had the skills and potential to be a Master. But he lost his fight to the darkness, thanks to Xehanort." He opened his eyes and looked back up. "He actually competed with Aqua to determine which of the two would become master."

"And he lost?" Riku guessed.

"Yes."

"So does that mean only one of us can become a Master?" Sora asked, suddenly becoming worried. After all this time, he still wasn't sure he had what it took to beat Riku. And he needed to become a Master in order to fight Xehanort.

Yet, Yen Sid chuckled at the question. He knew all to well that Sora was worried about the exam now. "Not exactly." He started. "The exam is built around the apprentices who's taking it. Terra was afraid of the darkness and refused to use it. So the test was designed to see if he could correctly supress it. While Aqua's part was to see if she could handle fighting an opponent that used brute force, opposed to her magic." The Master shook his head and his voice got alittle darker. "Their exam wasn't fair, however. Their Master, Master Eraqus, despised the darkness and didn't see that it could be used for good. So when Terra began to use it, he automatically failed him."

Yen Sid stood. The sudden movement surprised Sora and Riku who was used to the quiet and mellow atmosphere of the room. "Your tests shall be different! I will be your master."

"You can use a Keyblade?" Sora asked, astonished and amazed.

"Who do you think taught the King how to fight?" Yen Sid smirked confidentally.

"Do you mind showing us a demonstration?" Riku folded his arms. His voice had a hint of disbelief, even though he's the more respectful between him and Sora at the moment.

Yen Sid smiled and clapped. The whole room around them went up and smoke! The two boys immediantly began to cough and shield their eyes.

"What the?"

"What's going on?"

Yen Sid's voice boomed. "Here on out, you two will begin your exams!" The smoke began to circle around the two in a tornado as his voice continued to boom like thunder. "Sora! Your journey for your homeland and friends had cost the lives of many worlds! You shall venture into the darkness and save these worlds. Your light will be tested against the darkness!"

Sora couldnt do anything but cough and try to fight the smoke. But the next thing he knew, he was falling. Once he felt nothing but cold air, he opened his eyes, surprised to see a plethora of Sora clones falling in the sky around him. "What the...what's going on?" Did the smoke give him a high? Because there was no way this was possible! And worst off, he was in his old outfit; the outfit he wore when he fought Xehanort's heartless. He had on his latest black outfit just a second ago!

As he fell, he began to notice that the clones slowly difted into orbs of light and stop in mid air while he kept falling towards the ground. Now that he saw their faces, he could see that they were asleep. _'What's going on...?_**'**

He tilted his head back to look at where he was falling and saw concrete ground. If it wasn't for the large mansion, he wouldn't have known where he was!

Traverse Town. Second District.

To avoid a very painful landing, he turned and landed on his feet. Suprisingly the impact wasn't painful at all. Falling from the sky, he would've thought that he would've atleast broken something.

However, he didn't have time to catch up with reality. A group of shadow heartless appeared around the boy and began to slowly move up on him.

"What the hell is going on!" He shouted and whipped out his keyblade, ready for a fight.

* * *

Riku fought and fought against the torrent of smoke. The more he swung, the more he took into his lungs.

"Riku! Althought you was confused at the start of your journey, you have wronged many innocent people! This had resulted in the events leading up this very moment! You will journey into the Realm of Light and help these people you have tormented! Keep hold of your darkness! Embrace it! Don't let the light snuff it out! Not even for an instant!"

That was all Riku heard before his sudden drop. Unlike Sora's he wasn't able to gain conciousness before he landed flat on his back. His back didn't ache as much as he would have thought it would have. "Ohh..." he groaned dramatically before getting up to his feet.

His eyes slowly opened to a blinding light. He shielded his eyes for a brief second before he was again surrounded in darkness. "What kind of sick and twisted game is this?" he shouted into the void as if he was expecting an answer.

But he was tripped up by something running into his left knee and knocked him onto his back. "Ow." The boy groaned and rubbed his head before sitting up and opening his eyes. He saw a glimpse of a white blur rushing around the corner. Whatever it was, it seemed worried.

_'Maybe he knows where I am.'_ He thought to himself calmly. "Hey wait up!" He placed a hand on his head to try to ease the sudden headache that was caused by Yen Sid's sick and twisted spell.

But what he was suprised to see was that he could see his hand clearly! There was no hair blocking his view! He jumped up and looked up and down his body, seeing that he was suddenly in his yellow shirt and his blue jeans!

_'These are...!'_ He thought in surprise. _'What the hell is going on?'_

* * *

Bonus points to anyone who can figure out where Riku is and what's the purpose is behind all of the Sora clones in the sky. Haha Good luck ;)

REV/FAV/ALERT!


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